VVAL football strength in the eye of the beholder

Weak league. Strong league. At every level of sport, people have their opinions on the
matter.

In my experience, I find every league, conference or division to mostly be the same in that
you will find quality at the top and lack of quality at the bottom. What ultimately determines
the strength of such is the quality among teams in the middle. That is how one can separate
when it comes to comparing leagues.

With one week of Vine Valley Athletic League football in the books, it is a reminder of the
league strength being in the eye of the beholder.

The formation of the VVAL took place in 2017 when Napa, Vintage and American Canyon
vacated the CIF Sac Joaquin Section for the North Coast Section. Those three schools
joined the Vine Valley Athletic League with Justin-Siena, Casa Grande, Petaluma and
Sonoma. Napa and Vintage were in the Monticello Empire League. American Canyon was
in the Solano County Athletic Conference. Justin had been in the Marin County Athletic
League. Casa Grande was in the North Bay League while Petaluma and Sonoma were in
the Sonoma County League.

Napa, Vintage and American Canyon (and their fans) welcomed the move because it means
no more trips East on Interstate 80. No more playoff matchups against Sacramento or other
Central Valley schools that feature areas that are growing while Napa is not. Justin welcomed
moving to the VVAL because it meant no more trips through three counties for road games.
Casa Grande, Petaluma and Sonoma (and their fans), however, were not so welcoming of
the move in part because, from their perspective, they would be playing larger schools with
sizeable rosters.

Casa Grande actually has the second largest largest enrollment in the league with 1,973
behind Napa (1,980) and ahead of Vintage (1,973), American Canyon (1,564), Petaluma
(1,355), Sonoma (1,293) and Justin-Siena (530). According to maxpreps.com, football roster
sizes go as follows: Vintage (47), Petaluma (37), Casa Grande (36), Justin-Siena (33), Napa
(28), Sonoma (19). Justin is the lone private school of the lot.

Personally, I believe school enrollment and roster size are misleading and borderline
meaningless stats when it comes to determining a team’s success. I’ve seen plenty of small
schools that are perennially competitive and plenty of large schools that are Humpty
Dumpties.

Though it is a small sample size, Sonoma County holds a 2-1 over Napa County in football
after one week of VVAL action. American Canyon defeated Petaluma 43-16 while Sonoma
beat Napa 28-16 and Casa Grande defeated Justin 36-35 in a thriller. Vintage had a bye.
On Friday, Casa Grande visits Vintage, Petaluma visits Justin and American Canyon travels
to Sonoma. Napa has a bye.

Relevant to the strength of the league, I have had conversations with media members,
coaches, etc. I have heard everything from the league being weak to filled with parity to
exceedingly difficult. By my observation, I see a few teams that are decent and/or good but
none that are great.

The strength of the league, however, is in the eye of the beholder. From a Vintage or Napa
standpoint, the league strength appears limiting because there is no Vacaville or 2002-2016
version Napa, which has gone from good to bad in the blink of an eye. From an American
Canyon point of view, Vintage is about on par with Vanden, which was the Wolves biggest
threat in the SCAC. From a Justin point of view, the VVAL is about on par with the MCAL
but no team is of the quality of Marin Catholic. From a Casa Grande viewpoint, the good
news is that no team in on Cardinal Newman;s level but for Petaluma and Sonoma, the top
end of the league will likely prove to be better than Analy.

I read a column recently in the Petaluma Argus Courier from their longtime sports reporter,
John Jackson. The column was a synopsis of the Petaluma schools first games of the 2018
season. Within the column, Jackson something to the effect of “they got away with mistakes
this week but they won’t get away with them in the VVAL.” As if the league was a high
school version of the Big 10. That feeling seems to be the prevailing one in Sonoma County.

However, you have to look at Vintage, Napa, American Canyon and Justin for what they are
not what they were. Napa’s elevator has gone from good to bad without stopping at
mediocre.Vintage appears to be building something sustainable under third year head coach
Dylan Leach but these are not Burl Autry’s Crushers from the 1970s. American Canyon has
at times been dominant in its brief history but Chris Seisay is not walking through that door,
neither are Jomon Dotson or Jonathan Bade. At Justin, Brandon Larocco appears to be
gaining better footing in his third season as head coach after replacing long-time success
Rich Cotruvo. How successful Larocco’s Braves become long term remains to be seen.

VVAL strength, however, is in the eye of the beholder.